The Kac-Ties originated in Brooklyn, New York and were considered a
premier singing group. Before the Kac-Ties recorded, Sydney Bamberg was the
lead and 1st tenor but he was replaced by Robert Burton. Bernard Bamberg,
Sydney's brother was the original bass, but was replaced by David Nixon. The
group members who remained were Jennings 'Panama' Blackett Jr (baritone and
lead), Robert Burton (1st tenor and 2nd tenor), David 'Wolf' Nixon (bass),
Jackie Robinson (lead and 1st tenor), James Smalls (baritone and 2nd tenor).

The Kac-Ties entered a singing contest in the 60's at the Arlington Inn
in Brooklyn. One of the groups competing with them was a new, then relatively
unknown, group - The Jive Five. The Kac-Ties won the competition. The
excitement of winning prompted The Kac-Ties to enter another contest that very
same night at Brooklyn's Baby Grand. Once again, they were competing with The
Jive Five and learned of the Jive Five's upcoming release of "My True
Story." The Kac-Ties once again prevailed and won this second competition.

The Kac-Ties went into the recording studio and recorded four songs on
the Shelley label for Mr. Clark Galehouse. The Shelley label was a subsidiary
of the Golden Crest label of Huntington, Long Island and was named after Mr.
Galehouse's daughter. The four recordings were released as - "Let Your
Love Light Shine" b/w " Were-Wolf" (Shelley 163); "Let Me
In Your Life" b/w "Oh What A Night" (Shelley 165). Dave 'Baby'
Cortez was also at this session and played piano on the four recordings. It was
at this recording session that The Kac-Ties met Ben E. King who was scheduled
to record when the Kac-Ties were finished. One of the songs Ben E. King
recorded at that session was "Stand By Me."

The Kac-Ties material, recorded for the Shelley label, was also released
on Kape Records of Brooklyn, New York. Kape released "Let Your Love Light
Shine" b/w "Mr. Were-Wolf" (Shelley 163) as Kape 503. "Let
Me In Your Life" b/w "Oh, What A Night" (Shelley 165) was leased
by Kape to Atco (#6299) for national distribution. The Kac-Ties recorded more
material for the Kape label including "Walking in the Rain" b/w
"Smile (Baby)" (Kape 502), "Happy Birthday" b/w "Girl
In My Heart" (Kape K515631/2), "Donald Duck" b/w "Over the
Rainbow" (Kape 702), "Too Proud To Let You Know" b/w "What
Did I Do Wrong" (Kape 703) and "Smile (Baby)" b/w Until We Two
Are One" (Kape 504).

The Kac-Ties also recorded "Back to the Beach" for Kape
Records at A-1 Recording Studios in New York. Fred Kaplan leased this track to
a new label - Davey Jones Records. The owners of this label were Davey Jones of
the Monkees and Jack Angel, Davey's uncle and part owner of Herald Ember
Records. They released "Back to the Beach" b/w "Too Proud To Let
You Know" (Davey Jones Records 664). It was selected as one of the 'Pick
Hit of the Week' by WABC Radio in New York City - This song would have become a
national hit - Top 25 on the record charts but national events intervened. This
was the same week the Watts Riots occurred. The ensuing tensions divided the
music industry - black stations wouldn't play white music & white stations
wouldn't play black music. Since the Davey Jones label has a picture of Davey
on the label (since he was well known as a member of the Monkees), neither
black or white music stations played this record.

In an effort to circumvent the issues, the Davey Jones label formed a
subsidiary, the Demand Record label and released the Kac-Ties "Back to the
Beach" b/w "Too Proud To Let You Know" as Demand 501, as well as
changing the name of the group to The Relations.

The Kac-Ties were in great demand to perform. In addition to local
shows, they performed in Atlantic City, New Jersey at a Christmas Holiday show
for Florence Ballard, previously of the Supremes. DJ Hal Jackson thought the
group was terrific and had them perform at the Pitkin Theater in Brooklyn, as
well as being on a TV show with him.